Residents gather at the site of the crash...(PHOTO ESSAY: Plane Crashes in Lagos Residential Area )
It had less than three minutes to make it to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, but the Dana Airline flight from Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, with 153 passengers on board could not make it.
It crashed into residential buildings at Olaniyi Street, Iju, a suburb of Lagos, killing more than 30 others on the ground.
The Dana airplane came down at exactly 3.45pm. The plane which obviously had problem in the air tried unsuccessfully to make it but crashed into a church, Mountain of Fire, and a two-storey building.
The impact of the crash on the building led to a massive fire which prevented immediate rescue operations.
Some of those who lost their lives include a northern elder and a retired federal permanent secretary under General Yakubu Gowon and Murtala Muhammed's government, Alhaji Ibrahim Damcida; the spokesman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Levi Ajuonuma; a director of Mainstreet Bank, Shehu Sa'ad; Ehimie Aikhomu, Professor Celestine Onwuliri, the husband of the minister of state for foreign affairs, Prof Viola Onwuliri and a family of seven, among others.
It was also alleged that the ill-fated Dana plane had been under repair for several weeks and the airline's station manager protested its use, but the Indian management was said to have insisted it should fly.
The aircraft must have sent distress signals to the airport as its fire fighters from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) were the first to arrive the scene 30 minutes after the plane went down.
A police chopper was the first to locate the scene of the crash a few minutes after it happened, which facilitated quick mobilisation of fire fighters to the scene.
The fire was eventually put out at about 6.35pm before rescue efforts could begin. As at the time LEADERSHIP left the area, three dead bodies of residents of the two-storey building had been pulled out of the rubble while the plane itself created a deep crater at the church.
About 15 people were said to be inside the church building holding a meeting when the plane went down.
The plane, which flew dangerously for more than five minutes, pulled down a mango tree and an electric pole. "We thank God that it did not hit our house," says Angela Umoru, an eyewitness.
Speaking on the disaster, the director-general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Harold Denuren, said the flight was heading from Abuja to Lagos, the capital. He further said, "I don't believe there are any survivors."
In August 2010, the US announced it had given Nigeria the FAA's Category 1 status, its top safety rating that allows the nation's domestic carriers to fly directly to the US.
This latest incident came after another plane crash on Saturday night in Accra, capital of the nearby West African nation of Ghana, which saw a cargo plane overshoot a runway and hit a passenger bus, killing at least 10 people.
The Allied Air cargo plane had departed from Lagos and was to land in Accra.
Ill-fated aircraft had escaped crash before
The Dana aircraft which killed all 153 passengers and crew members on board and several other people on the ground is said to have narrowly escaped a crash in the last couple of weeks before yesterday's fatal accident.
LEADERSHIP investigations revealed that the aircraft, Dana Air MD-83 5-RAM, was formerly an Alaska Airline plane built in 1990.
The reports have it that the crashed plane was the same one that had a landing gear problem in Uyo a couple of weeks back.
The aircraft also reportedly developed hydraulic problem midair and had to make emergency landing three weeks ago in Lagos.
The manufacturers of the MD aircraft are said to have stopped producing it and are in the process of phasing it out.
Jonathan declares 3-day mourning
President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday declared a three-day period of national mourning for all those who lost their lives in the Dana plane crash in Lagos.
He also ordered a full-scale investigation into the remote and secondary cause of the crash.
Accordingly, Jonathan, who has cancelled all his public engagements scheduled for today, has also directed that the Nigerian flag be flown at half-mast for the three days of national mourning.
A statement by his special adviser on media and publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, also noted that, in compliance with the president's directive, "the minister of aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, has already left Abuja for Lagos to oversee the crash investigations and present an interim report to the federal government as quickly as possible".
The president, while mourning those who died in the crash, prayed God to grant the families of the victims of the plane crash the courage and fortitude to bear their irreparable loss.
The statement made available to LEADERSHIP last night reads in part: "The president joins all Nigerians in mourning all those who lost their lives in the plane crash which has sadly plunged the nation into further sorrow on a day when Nigerians were already in grief over the loss of many other innocent lives in the church bombing in Bauchi State."
Lagos State governor Mr. Babatunde Fashola has condoled with the families of victims of the air crash.
Governor Fashola, in a statement signed by his special adviser on media, Mr. Hakeem Bello, also expressed shock at the incident which, reportedly, occurred as the aircraft approached the vicinity of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja.
The governor expressed deep sorrow that the expectations of the families to welcome their loved ones at the end of the journey was cut short in such an abrupt and unexpected manner, adding that the experience could be traumatic.
Shekarau is alive, not involved in the crash
Rumours circulating in the social media claiming that former governor of Kano State and ANPP's presidential candidate in last year's presidential election, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau (Sardaunan Kano), had died in the Dana Air crash yesterday are false, a member of Sardaunan Kano Media Committee, Malam Gali Sadiq, has assured.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP yesterday's night, Gali dispelled the rumour, saying: "Malam Shekarau spent the whole of yesterday attending weddings and chairing meetings, and did not venture out of Kano State, not to talk of travelling to Lagos."
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This is not an attempt to take recourse to superstition. It is quite convenient to be inclined to "there-is-nothing-in-a-name" dismissive chorus. However, there is quite a bit in a name. Appropriate names for children and appellations for landmarks are cherished value among decent, civilized societies the world over. In a majority of instances, it is a cultural art. You would not name a child after a goat or cow, for it might grow, behaving like one. Or, after Osama Bin Laden. You do not name your mansion or a home after hell or your town after Afghanistan. You would just be courting trouble. We all know how a famous rap singer ended up; his name was NOTORIOUS B.I.G. Arguably, that young lad could have brought his fate upon himself. The International Airport in Ikeja is the hub of air travel in Africa. It is a complex that deserved a name that conjures up solace, serenity and peace of mind in the psyche of intending air travelers, particularly those homebound from sojourn abroad. However, this is not to be. The Ikeja Airport was thoughtlessly named after murtala mohamed, repulsive, tempestuous butcher. In spite of the awareness that the brute committed atrocities that included genocide and ethnic cleansing, we pretentiously retain a goddamned, despicable, demonic name on a facility that touches on the safety of lives of millions that use it for transit. Just like the name "Nigeria" , the curse in that name -muritala mohamed- now rubs off on innocent travelers and today's disaster is just one too many. The wanton killings in Nigeria are pivoted on the circulation of the ominous N20.00 bills embossed with the image of the puffy-faced fiend. The Beromland and its people have become the unfortunate victims of the evil Gowon brought home. So are the Idomas and Tivs of Benue. Their sons involved in the 1966 atrocious 1966 murder of over 50,000 Igbo civilians are yet to atone for the diabolical bloodshed. Our choice to live in denial of the glamor we put on sacrilegious practice and of the murderers we hold in high esteem amount to an acceptance of a collective guilt. For as long as society finds hushed comfort in stewing in this suffocating juice of evil, the hope for a respite continues to fade away. In contrast, worthy Nigerians who represent our human rights and democratic values should be better forgotten. Ken Saro-Wiwa remains an unsung hero. The Southerner-hating Hausa 5th column dissolved his remains in barrels of fuming sulfuric acid to deny him a decent burial by his family. However, sanni abacha, a Hausa maniac that ordered his hanging, is worshiped and adored. In addition, just as muritala mohamed, abacha has landmarks named in his demonic memory. To ensure that Chief Abiola is denied credit for championing the course of Nigeria's democracy for which he paid the supreme price, the oligarchs and their lackeys came up with the insidious intrigue to crowd out JUNE 12 DEMOCRACY DAY. They replaced it with a deceptive, May 29 sham that lacks both symbolism and uniqueness. Not one government person, not even the sitting President himself, can proffer one explanation as to how a moronic May 29 became Nigeria’s Democracy Day. This is another idiotic misnomer; it makes Nigerian democracy the desert mirage that will ever elude us. The sooner these outrages and monstrosities are addressed, the better for us all. You cannot plant cassava and expect to reap bananas. That Airport must revert to its good old name to arrest the unnecessary, tragic losses resulting from a satanic curse brought upon it by disingenuous, self-aggrandizing upstarts. Muritala Mohamed, an uncompromising megalomaniac, is best remembered for his extremely intemperate conduct and violent disposition. He held little or no respect for the sanctity of human life. The carnage is the delivery of MURTALA MOHAMED Airport we unwittingly asked for. It is repulsive to the spirit of the innocent people whose lives he cut short. Take it or leave it; there is, indeed, quite a lot in a name after all.
Is this true? Dubai The amount of drugs the police say they found on Noel Sanyanafwa is substantial. But where they allegedly found the enormous quantity of marijuana makes the story of Noel's arrest truly jaw-dropping. The police say they found 84 bags of marijuana inside Noel's rectum. The police say that Noel tried to escape police custody and also used his brother's name and driver's license when questioned by police. He's being held in custody.
the government should please and try to find the solution for this air craft problems in our nations, our people are dieing at not appropriate time.
the government should please and try to find the solution for this air craft problems in our nations, our people are dieing at not appropriate time.